7 
140 
Nistory. 
Seleucus ex. 
plores In- 
dia. 
B. C. 312 
to 291, 
Expeditions 
of the Ro- 
mans. 
B. C. 264 
to 146, 
Julius Ce- 
Sar. 
B. C. 50, 
Strabo. 
B. C. 30. 
Limits of 
his geogra- 
phy, 
Thule of 
the ancients 
2ecording to 
Pytheas, 
rious arms from the Indus, where Alexander's expedi« 
tion terminated, to. the mouth of the Ganges, geography 
was not a little indebted. His ambassadors Megasthe- 
nes and Daimachus, who were sent to Palibothra, the 
capital of a large kingdom on the Ganges, and thought 
to be the Allahabad, or according to others, Baliputra 
of modern India, collected a great deal of important 
information with regard to the natural history of the 
country, as well as the manners of the inhabitants. 
The spirit of commercial enterprise, which vailed 
particularly in Greece during the century after Alex- 
ander’s death, served not only to keep up a constant 
intercourse with the countries thus discovered, but also 
to extend the boundaries‘ of geography to others before 
unknown.» The Grecian kings of Egypt carried on a 
regular trade with India and Taprobane (Ceylon), while 
the Carthaginians extended their commerce Pa, bay 
western coast, as well as into the interior of Africa. 
The Romans also, having obtained possession of all 
Italy, began to aspire after foreign conquest. Their 
expeditions against Carthage made them acquainted 
with Africa, and what was of still greater consequence, 
taught them the construction and management of ships. 
In the Macedonian war they acquired a knowledge of 
Greece, and rendered themselves formidable in Asia 
Minor by the defeat of Antiochus. Their subsequent 
conquests were still more important in a geographical 
point of view. Julius Caesar gave the earliest and the 
most accurate account of the interior of Gaul and the 
south of Britain, Germanicus penetrated as far as the 
Elbe, and Elius Gallus traversed the interior of Arabia, 
Thus by the commencement of the Christian era, geo- 
graphy had received a vast accession, not merely in ex- 
tent, but in point of accuracy. Countries that had 
only been heard of from the casual visit of a soli 
traveller, or misrepresented by the’'selfish policy of the 
avaricious trader, were now familiarly known; from the 
march of victorious armies, whose leaders were as anxi- 
ous to describe as to conquer, and by a happy com- 
bination of events, a Strabo arose to transmit an ac- 
count of all these discoveries to posterity. Of the ele- 
gant and learned work of this celebrated writer, we 
cannot pretend to give any thing like an analysis, ; and 
indeed no analysis could do it justice. We have only 
to observe, that the portion of the globe which he de- 
scribes is bounded on the north by the Baltic, towards 
the east by the Ganges, and on the south nearly by the 
line joining the mouth of that river with the mouth of 
the Senegal. Of course his description of all the coun- 
tries contained within these limits cannot be equally 
minute, nor is he always accurate in his delineation of 
those that were more perfectly known. He is frequently 
mistaken with regard to the situation of particular places, 
the course of rivers, and the direction of chains of 
mountains. ‘These, however, are errors which will 
readily be overlooked, when we consider the period at 
which the work was composed, a ‘period when the 
traveller had ito struggle with difficulties in all in- 
land expeditions, and the geographer laboured under: 
disadvantages from the want or the imperfection of 
Sates of which moderns can hardly form an 
idea. ‘ 
The only other subject which we would notice as 
connected with this period of ancient geography, is the 
situation of the much disputed Thule. Pytheac, a na- 
vigator of Marseilles, who lived a short time before 
Alexander the Great, after having explored the east, or 
as he thought the north east coast of Britain, continued 
his voyage, as he says, to the north, that is to the north- 
east, and after six days fell in with land which he calls 
GEOGRAPHY. 
Thule or Thyle, and which he states to be 46,900 stax History 
dia from the equator. The situation of this place has “"y™ 
long been a disputed point both with ancient and mos 
dern writers, and the difficulty arises from not knowing; 
in the first place, which of the ancient stadia is here 
meant, and secondly, what was the precise length of 
the stadium. The » different kinds. of stadia in) use 
among the ancients, are generally reduced, by modern 
geographers, to four, but the ive lengths of these 
have by no means been ly determined. With- 
out, however, entering into.a detailiof the various opi- © 
nions which have. been entertained’ on the subject, we 
shall merely state that of an eminent writer, which is 
perhaps as accurate as any other. This author (M. 
Gosselin): supposes, that of the longest stadia 66 
were equal to one of the equator, of the 
kind 700, of the third 833%, and of the fourth or Egyp- 
tian 11113. Applying these different measures succes+ 
sively to Pytheas’s account, we shall have for the lati+ 
tude of Thule 69° 27’; 66° 8';:55° 34/, and 41° 40’, 
Of these results the third appears to be the most pro- 
woe anette eer 
utland, as it is to Ji only that P sed 
description can at all apply. He says, for example; eatin 
per 3 the sea, the earth, and the air, seem to be 
confounded in one element ; a description strikingly ap 
plicable tothe downs of Jutland, a henna 
quently driven about with violent winds, and being 
scattered over the surface of the marshes, conceals 
the unwary traveller the gulf beneath. His account 
the produce of the country is equally applicable ; and 
the whole is rendered more probable, from theré being 
in Jutland, about a degree farther north than the-situa- 
tion of Thule, as now determined, \a part ‘of the coast 
still denominated Thy or Thyland, \and in’ the ancient 
erty. of Scandinavia, Thiuland.,. Other arguments 
might be urged in favour of this opinion, notwithstand- 
ing the scepticism of Strabo, and other ancient geogra« 
phers ; but more, perhaps, has already been said om the 
subject than is consistent withthe nature of our plan. .. 
See Founan. ional L wiht c aici 
For some time after the commencement of the Chris- © 
tian era, the progress of geographical discovery was “2s 
neither rapid nor very extensive. The Romans had ,, 
by this time, indeed, subdued the greater part of the g 
known world, and had consequently a great dealin cal 
their power with regard to the advancement of science, "Y ater 
But their attention was directed more to what they al- weet of 
ready knew, than what they might still have to disco- christian 
ver. They soon began to ve that conquests were era, 
more easily made than retained, and that, by attempt 
ing to gain more, they might eventually lose what they fe 
already possessed. They had therefore no longer any 
gn a 
inducement to extend their researches into fore, 
countries for the purpose of conquest, scarcely even. 
for military renown ; and thus ry was deprived, 
of the aid which it had formerly derived from a spirit 
of military adventure, and to which, more than any 
other circumstance, perhaps, it was indebted for its suc 
cess. Nor had the Romans the same temptation as 
formerly to explore unknown regions, for the purpose: 
of commerce. Asia continued long to supply them in, 
abundance with every luxury which they could desire, . 
through the ordinary channel ; and while that»supply. 
kept pace with the demand, it was not to be expected 
that they would give themselves much trouble either 
about discovering new countries, or exploring new chan-. 
nels of communication with such as were already known 
to them. -Add to all this, that hical discovery 
was approaching that point when its farther extension 
